In which case, the bad guys win
by shishiwastaken
Summary: In the final battle between Thorin and Azog, one sight change of plans can lead to disastrous results. Oneshot.
**DISCLAIMER: Let's get this out of the way. I do not own or have any hope of ever owning the characters or happenings of middle earth. They belong to Tolkien and as far as I'm concerned he can keep them. For now. Please, feel free to leave any comments and/or questions that you may have. Follow the story in which ever way you would like, but make your thoughts known but be polite while you do it. Thank you!**

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 **~~~~~~~~~~ShiShi~~~~~~~~~~**

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My eyes fly open and through the frozen surface I find the Durin rat studying me. I commend him for his ingenious plan to sink me to the bottom of the river with my own weight by stabbing him through the foot. Even slowed by chilled limbs and flow of the water, I am fast enough to skewer the slug of a dwarf. His shout of pain is only matched by my roar of triumph as I burst from the frozen waters easily. Like wolves, we circle each other; the soon to be dead dwarf drags his leg behind him like a petulant child with a soggy blanket. Having chased the pest for 142 years , I find myself practically salivating at the thought of his demise. Muscle clashes against muscle but it is not long before the dwarf's back meets the ground.

"Scream for me dwarf." I growl down at his form, not giving him the chance to get to his feet "Or would you prefer a silent death?"

"It is you who will fall on this day!" He bites out in return, the white hot sound of blood rage is clear in his voice"Prepare yourself, scum!"

"A fool of child," I chastise in the common tongue. The words have always been too soft for my liking but in this instance, they are necessary "I shall be sure to teach you a lesson before you die!"

With the dwarf struggling beneath me, I aim to pierce his heart with the weapon attached to the very arm he cut off. The dwarf huffs in exercision, his face becoming ruddy from the strain of holding my blade away from his vital organs. A futile attempt as pound for pound, I am stronger than the dwarf could ever be. His blue eyes, so filled with the desire to end my life, fill with this realization and in this moment we both know he will die. It is in this moment that his gaze changes and instincts instantly warn me away from the dwarf.

I have lived a long time and I have looked into the eyes of the dying as often as I look upon my own men. Over the years I have taken many lives, I never bothered to keep count. I have bathed in blood so often, I could drown an army in the collective liquid. Both males and females have fallen to their knees tho plead their lives. I have sank balls deep into enough of those women and many others that had I not killed each and everyone of them, I could start a new world compiled of just my offspring. Be it for sport or power, all my conquests have held the same look in their eyes as I ended their existence: the fight to live. It is the sweetest of joys to look upon them as I take the only thing that they have always had. I notice it's absence in the dwarf's gaze immediately just as his strength disappears. I immediately curve my blade to sink into the side of his throat, rather than his chest, to dodge his own weapon aimed for my heart.

"If you desired romance, you should have found a mate." kicking the weapon from the gurgling dwarf's limp grasp, I sit on his chest as he blinks up at me in shock "Dying with you here, is not how I wish to meet my end."

Never have I known a Durin to forfeit a fight and I have met many in my long life. It's out of that brushing respect of their tenacity for success which ultimately alerted me to the dwarf's plan. Chuckling darkly as I pull my blade free, I lean in to watch his paling face and he bleeds out on to the ice.

"Your sacrifice is for naught, little crownless king. You kin have all fled or lie dead in the fields." Ever the ball of stubborn rage, I lean back as a glob of bloody saliva shoots from my nemesis. The weak attempt is all he can muster as his head thumps against the ice. Leaning in once more I grasp his peppered mass of hair, drag the blood across the expense of his neck, and barely blink as his warm blood sprays onto my face "I will wear your spine as a belt with your skull as buckle. Your innards will be left for the fowl to scavenge and your name shall be forgotten by even me."

His wide eyes stay glued to mine even as the light behind them fades, leaving nothing but a cooling corpse. Wasting little time on the now all but useless husk, I began making quick work of detaching the dwarf's head. It is a difficult and tedious process of shucking his spinal cord from his back without snapping it. It is made all the worse as I only have one hand to do the job, leading to numerous nicks on my fingers from his sharp vertebrae. Still, within minutes a new belt hangs on my hips, still warm from his corpse. After his head has rotted away the flesh, I will add it as well but for now this will do. Watching the destruction of the dwarves as the elves flee, as they often do, there is no doubt in my mind and soon it is echoed in the field.

"Azog has won."

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 **~~~~~~~~~~ShiShi~~~~~~~~~~**

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Why I've done this... I don't know. I guess it's because I wanted to see what it would be like if Thorin didn't win. In reality, I think it'd be interesting to know how the story would play out if he died out failed on the first questionable choices like... trolls... goblin town... getting left behind by the eagles because they think he's dead... Yeah. This can also be read as an alternate ending to _An adventure of a lifetime_ though I guess that brings about the question of what happens to Thia... if this wasn't a one shot, nothing good. ~Shishi


End file.
